This invention relates to hockey sticks. More particularly, this invention relates to an improved hockey stick having an elastomeric coating on the stick blade.
It is not uncommon to find hockey players cover the stick blade of hockey sticks with a cover material. There are a number of reasons why hockey players cover the stick blade. One reason is to obtain a better "feel" for the puck. Another is to help reduce wear and damage to the blade. Some players believe that blade cover material helps hide the puck which is normally black.
Of the cover materials currently employed, the most popular is hockey tape. Hockey tape is actually a cloth material with an adhesive applied to one or both surfaces. Notwithstanding its prevalent use as a hockey stick blade covering, it has the following shortcomings:
(i) Feel: The current tape products do not possess a yield characteristic that provides the desired soft "feel" to the player. It is believed that this less than satisfactory "feel" is due to insufficient resiliency in the materials that make up present day hockey tapes. PA0 (ii) Water Absorption: Hockey tapes, being cloth-based, absorb a significant amount of water. This water absorption is disadvantageous in that it increases the weight of the stick over time and reduces the adhesion of the tape to the stick blade. With loss in adhesion, the tape soon begins to unravel from the blade, necessitating replacement. Replacement can be a nuisance particularly when it happens during play. PA0 (iii) Wear: Although hockey tape provides some protection against wear, the protection it provides is less than desirable. This is due to the aforementioned high degree of water absorption that characterizes hockey tape. PA0 (iv) Repair difficulty: Hockey tape is typically wrapped continuously around the stick blade. When it begins to become undone, the loose portion can be torn off if it is only a small piece. However, if enough tape has unraveled, the entire winding of tape must be removed and new tape applied. This is a nuisance to many hockey players, especially during play.
Others in the prior art have attempted to overcome the wear and repair problems associated with hockey tape by coating them with either paints or hard plastic materials such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,458,721 (Franck et al), U.S. Pat. No. 4,241,115 (Temin) and U.S. Pat. No. 3,353,826 (Traverse). Unfortunately, these materials fail to provide the necessary "feel", actually imparting less feel than hockey tape.
A prior art attempt to solve the unsatisfied feel problem involves the use of a rubber sock. This approach employs a dry, elastomeric sleeve which stretches over and onto the stick blade. It has literally no adhesion to the blade- The bottom of the stick blade receives the most wear, owing to its greater and sometimes quite stressful (as with shooting) contact with the ice surface. Since there is no adhesion of the sock to the blade, when the sock wears through on the bottom, the entire sock falls off. When the sock falls off, the entire sock must be replaced. A minor "touch-up" or repair is not possible.